Members of the Republican Study Committee's Steering Committee voted to release an Official Position on a slate of border security policies this week.

"President Biden and Secretary Mayorkas have created the crisis at our southern border through a long list of failed and illegal policies," said RSC Chairman Kevin Hern (OK-01). "RSC's Steering Committee unequivocally condemns the Biden Administration's dereliction of duty and stands ready to advance proven conservative policies that combat cartels, secure the border, and enforce the immigration laws already on the books."

Below is the RSC Steering Committee's Official Position:

Each day the House of Representatives does not take action to secure the border is another day in which the Biden administration perpetuates the national security and humanitarian calamity it has created at our southern border. Since Biden took office, there have been over 4 million apprehensions at the southwest border. Beyond the legal crisis is the humanitarian one. In 2021, drug related deaths in America rose above 100,000 for the first time in American history. Last month 20 women were rescued from a border-related human trafficking ring that led to over 200 arrests in Florida. As Vice President Biden said in 2014, "These smugglers—and everyone should know it, and not turn a blind eye to it—these smugglers routinely engage in physical and sexual abuse, and extortion of these innocent, young women and men by and large." While, the Biden Administration has the legal authorities necessary to end this chaos and secure the border, they have chosen not to.

For these reasons, the RSC Steering Committee supports the impeachment of Secretary Mayorkas. It also urges all House Republicans and Congress to swiftly pass legislation to force the Biden Administration to secure the border. This is a moral obligation. Under the Biden Administration, the brave men and women who serve in CBP have been demonized for trying their best to secure the border, protect border communities, and assist the countless individuals victimized by cartels. Congress must stand with these agents and officers and provide them with the capacity and capabilities to secure our border. Additionally, as part of this effort, the RSC Steering Committee endorses the following consensus conservative policies as part of a future House border package:

· Restore Operational Control of the Border: Congress should statutorily provide for the immediate expulsion of aliens who cross the border illegally. If an alien cannot be detained through the entirety of the asylum determination process, DHS should be required to expel them. Additionally, Congress should codify the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP), end "alternatives-to-detention," legislatively prevent President Biden's abuse of prosecutorial discretion and parole authority, and codify strict third-country asylum restrictions on illegal border crossers who did not seek protection in a country through which they traveled.

· Asylum Reform: The asylum process is filled with exploitable loopholes, acting as magnets that draws even more aliens with meritless claims to flood across our border. To prevent this exploitation, Congress must raise the credible fear standard, codify pre-Biden decisions ensuring asylum benefits do not extend to claims based on general local crime, and bar criminals from the asylum process.

· End Incentives for Illegal Immigration: Congress should eliminate incentivizes for illegal immigration, namely ending catch and release, cutting off illegal U.S. labor markets—including through strengthening E-Verify, and ending policies that encourage human smuggling of unaccompanied alien children (UACs)— such as the Flores settlement.

· Border Infrastructure: Congress should fund and require the completion of the border wall and build effective roadways along the border. This will give Border Patrol more time to quickly respond to illegal border crossers no matter how remote they are.

· Combat cartels: Cartels have taken operational control of our border largely controlling the smuggling of aliens and drugs into the U.S. Congress must address the cartel threat and end the humanitarian crisis at the border. Congress should sanction cartels and enhance criminal penalties for smuggling drugs and humans illegally into the U.S.

It is past time Congress act to secure the border, restore our national security, and save the countless individuals victimized by the violence of our open border.

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